One member of Area II is using molecular techniques to study evolution. Dr. Gail Simmons and her students have expanded their study of hobo transposable elements into several other species in the genus Drosophila. Having found that hobo elements within the D. melanogaster species complex appear to have been horizontally (interspecifically) transferred, they have developed PCR primers that allow them to determine the degree of DNA sequence divergence between hobo elements from D. melanogaster and hobos from other species in the genus. The results indicate that a complex mixture of horizontal and vertical transmission has occurred. Current efforts are directed at discovering the exact pattern of transmission of hobo.